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A Family Affair
 

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A Family Affair
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A Family Affair
Publisher: Necromancer
by Peter I. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 02/14/2007 00:00:00

A Family Affair is a 98 page d20 fantasy adventure product from Necromancer games. This adventure carries the designation K1, and is the first in the K-series of adventure modules from Necromancer Games. A Family Affair is suitable for 4 to 6 characters of level 8 or higher, and blends an excellent mix of variety to suit every gamers' need. In this adventure the characters get the chance to investigate murder and kidnapping, take a sea voyage to a dangerous island, venture deep into unsettling caves, and relive the horrors of a murder most foul. The adventure is not set in any particular setting, and DMs should easily be able to place this adventure in the setting of their choice. This product uses the 3.5e core ruleset.

This product comes as a single pdf file, extensively bookmarked and including a table of contents. A quick look at the module immediately shows the excellent quality of production and presentation. Artwork and layout are very good, and the editing and writing of the same high standard. Maps are very good, although in some instances perhaps a little monotonous, and the stat blocks are almost faultless. A quick look at the organisation of the adventure and it's easy to see why Necromancer Games have such a good name in adventure modules in the d20 market. Their adventures are of the calibre of 'how an adventure should be written', featuring exciting plots, interesting and varied locations, and enough detail that the DM never has to go looking for something or has to make something up. A few new monsters are introduced at the end of the product, and it utilizes some material from Necromancer Games' other products Tome of Horrors and Tome of Horrors II.

The adventure is divided into a number of different chapters, each covering another aspect of the adventure. Full background details, adventure summary, adventure hooks and advice on running the adventure are provided. The adventure starts with a detailed overview of Martin's Nest the town where this adventure takes place around. The town is extensively detailed with a map, important locations and their inhabitants, personalities for all NPCs encountered during the town, and information on how they fit into the adventure. This detail is splendid within this, providing everyone one might want to know and more, and one could conceivable move this town into another adventure if needed by just removing the plot related elements from each description. The detail and the extensive personalities of the various NPCs make the town feel vibrant and alive.

During the course of the adventure the PCs will explore an seemingly abandoned mansion, gather information in the town of Martin's Nest, uncover not only one, but two seemingly unrelated story plots, and then venture to dangerous islands and face crafty foes to finally bring the adventure to a conclusion. Each aspect of the adventure is given its own chapter, so it's easy to jump from one location to the next by just following the chapter designations. The adventure flows rather smoothly, doesn't seem forced in any way, and with all the detail certainly allows for characters to do things their way, rather than follow a scripted adventure line. There's a lot of fun to be had in this adventure, covering most of the bases in good adventures, and including something for characters of all classes, although rogues are quite important for this adventure.

This is a very long adventure, and should take several sessions to complete, depending on the actions of the PCs. The encounters are challenging and fun, with some interesting ones and some neat locations and details. While the artwork of the maps is decent, the actual layouts are a bit monotonous and something could've been done to make the layouts of the maps more interesting. At present they feel rather 'blocky', and could've used a more fantasy feel to them. That aside, with over a hundred different encounter locations, most offering something interesting (although quite a few rooms are there merely for space filler and verisimilitude), there's something for every gamer and a whole lot to enjoy.

Overall, this is very much and adventure that gives both DM and players some free reign to explore various options and go down different avenues to their ultimate goal. The adventure is partially dynamic outside of the dungeon crawl parts and things happen in response to the actions of the PCs, something that is always good to see. The adventure offers a number of surprises, and should keep the players on their toes throughout. A thoroughly enjoyable adventure, very well designed and presented, and an excellent variety of challenges, monsters, locations and encounters. Splendid job.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: A Family Affair is a well designed and well presented adventure that offers something for characters of all classes and players of all types. The adventure is fun, challenging and the variety of locations and encounters means there's always something new around every corner.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing terribly significant, although I suspect some areas of the adventure can become quite monotonous, while some of the maps could've use a little more fantasy to them, rather than the stereotypical 'blocky' approach.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



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[5 of 5 Stars!]
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